Old/New Testament
The Judgment Is Near
Judgment of the Nations
Chapter 1
Title and Introduction.[a] 1 These are the words of Amos, a shepherd of Tekoa, concerning visions in regard to Israel during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel, two years prior to the earthquake. 2 He said:
“The Lord roars from Zion,
and his name thunders forth from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds will wither
and the summit of Carmel will be arid.”
For Three Crimes of Damascus
3 [b]These are the words of the Lord:
For three crimes of Damascus, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they threshed Gilead
with threshing-sledges of iron,
4 I will send fire on the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.[c]
5 I will demolish the gate bars of Damascus
and destroy the inhabitants in the Valley of Aven,
as well as the sceptered ruler of Beth-eden;[d]
the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,
says the Lord.
For Three Crimes of Gaza
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Gaza, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they deported entire communities
and sent them in exile to Edom,
7 I will send fire down on the walls of Gaza
to devour its palaces.
8 I will destroy the inhabitants of Ashdod
and the sceptered ruler at Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,
says the Lord God.
For Three Crimes of Tyre
9 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Tyre, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they delivered entire communities to slavery in Edom
and ignored the covenant of brotherhood,
10 I will send fire down on the walls of Tyre
to devour its palaces.
For Three Crimes of Edom
11 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Edom, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because he pursued his brother with the sword
and stifled any semblance of pity,
because he was unceasing in his anger
and constantly nurtured his wrath,
12 I will send down fire on Teman
to devour the palaces of Bozrah.
For Three Crimes of Ammon
13 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of the Ammonites, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead
in their determination to enlarge their territory,
14 I will send down fire upon the walls of Rabbah[e]
to devour its palaces
amid war cries on the day of battle
and violent storms on the day of the whirlwind.
15 Then their king will go into exile,
accompanied by his chief advisors,
says the Lord.
Chapter 2
For Three Crimes of Moab
1 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Moab, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they incinerated to ashes
the bones of the king of Edom,[f]
2 I will send down fire on Moab
to devour the palaces of Kerioth.
Moab will perish amid the uproar,
amid war cries and the sound of trumpets.
3 I will destroy its rulers
and slaughter all of his officials with him.
For Three Crimes of Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Judah, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
Because they have spurned the law of the Lord
and have not observed his statutes,
having been led astray
by the lies which their fathers followed,
5 I will send fire down on Judah
to devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
The Trial of Israel
For Three Crimes of Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Israel, and for four,
I will not revoke my decree.
They sell righteous people for silver
and the poor for a pair of sandals.
7 They have trampled the heads of the poor
into the dust of the earth
and thrust the lowly out of their way.
Father and son lie with the same prostitute,
profaning my holy name.
8 They lie down beside every altar
upon garments acquired as surety,[g]
while drinking in the house of their God
the wine purchased with the fines they impose.
9 Yet I was the one
who destroyed the Amorites[h] before them;
they were as tall as the cedars
and as strong as the oaks.
I was the one
who destroyed their fruit above
and their roots below.
10 I was the one
who brought you up from the land of Egypt
and for forty years led you through the desert
to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I was the one
who raised up some of your sons to be prophets
and some of your young men to be Nazirites.
Is this not indeed true, O Israelites?
says the Lord.
12 But you forced the Nazirites to drink wine
and commanded the prophets, “Do not prophesy!”
13 Therefore, I will crush you
just as a cart crushes when it is fully laden.
14 The swift will be unable to take flight;
the strong man will not retain his strength,
and the warrior will be unable to save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground;
the swift of foot will not escape,
nor will the horseman save his life.
16 Even the bravest of warriors
will flee away naked on that day,
says the Lord.
Charges against Israel
Chapter 3
The First Word. 1 O men of Israel, hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 Of all the families of the earth,
you alone have I favored.
That is why I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
The Lord Speaks: Who Would Not Prophesy?
3 Do two people travel together
unless they have first agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
unless it has caught something?
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth
unless a trap has been set for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
unless something has been caught in it?
6 Are people not alarmed
if a trumpet sounds in the city?
If disaster strikes a city,
can that occur without the approval of the Lord?[i]
7 Indeed, the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants, the prophets.
8 The lion roars;
who will not be frightened?
The Lord God has spoken;
who will not prophesy?
Violence and Pillage in Their Palace
9 Proclaim this from the
palaces of Ashdod
and from the palaces of the land of Egypt:
“Assemble on the hills of Samaria
and observe the great disorders there,
as well as the oppression in her midst.”
10 For they do not know how to do what is right,
says the Lord,
as they store up in their palaces
their ill-gotten gains from violence and robbery.
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God has to say:
An enemy shall surround your land;
he will tear down your strongholds
and pillage your palaces.
12 The Lord says further:
As the shepherd rescues from the jaws of a lion
two legs or the tip of an ear,
so will the Israelites who live in Samaria be rescued
with the corner of a couch or the edge of a cot.
I Will Deal with the Altars of Bethel
13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of hosts:
14 On the day when I punish Israel for its crimes,
I will also deal with the altars of Bethel:
the horns of the altar shall be hacked off
and fall to the ground.
15 I shall destroy the winter house
as well as the summer house.
The houses of ivory will perish,
and many mansions will be no more,
says the Lord.
Prelude to the End of Times: Israel and the Church[a]
Chapter 6
The First Four Seals and the Horsemen.[b]1 Then, in my vision, I saw the Lamb break open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures shout in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and before my eyes I saw a white horse, and its rider was holding a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth as a victor to amass still further conquests.
3 When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature shout, “Come!” 4 And another horse came forth; it was red. Its rider was empowered to take away peace from the earth so that people would slay each other. He was given a large sword.[c]
5 When he broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature shout, “Come!” I looked, and there was a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales[d] in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice emanating from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat costs a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley cost a day’s wages. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.”
7 When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature shout, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades[e] followed close behind. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of wild beasts.
The Fifth Seal: Vision of the Martyrs.[f] 9 When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain on account of the word of God and for witnessing to it. 10 They shouted in a loud voice, “How long is it to be, holy and true Master, before you judge the inhabitants of the earth[g] and avenge our death?”
11 Each of them was given a white robe,[h] and they were instructed to be patient for a little longer until the roll was completed of their fellow servants and brethren who were still to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 The Sixth Seal: the Universe Disturbed.[i] In my vision, when he broke open the sixth seal, there was a violent earthquake. The sun turned as black as coarse sackcloth, the moon became as red as blood, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth like unripe figs dislodged from a tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens were torn apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, and the commanders, the rich and the powerful, and the whole population, both slaves and free, hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They shouted to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can endure it?”
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